Ground anchor



D. L. FlSKE GROUND ANCHOR June 30, 1959 Filed Feb. 28. 1955 United States Patent GROUND ANCHOR David L. Fiske, Dover, Mass.

Application February 28, 1955, Serial No. 490,934

3 Claims. (Cl. 189-90) This invention relates to a device which can be driven spade fashion into the ground and thereafter used as an anchor for tents, poles, and the like.

An object of this invention is to provide such a device which will tenaciously remain buried in the ground even when subject to great dislodging forces but which, when desired, can easily be removed without digging from its buried position. Another object is to provide such a device which is inexpensive and is easy to use. These and other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out in the description given hereinafter.

Ground anchors having a generally arrowheaded configuration are well known and widely used because of their superiority to such anchoring devices as tent pins. The former can be driven into the ground much as the head of a spear, thus being easy to apply, and will give good anchorage even in sandy soil whereas tent pins and the like will not. Moreover, once buried they do not have any parts protruding above the surface of the ground, other than short wires or ropes connected to them, and thus do not present the hazard of a sharp peg sticking out of the ground.

In the past these arrowheaded ground anchors, once buried, have been difficult to remove from the ground, no way having been found so that they can be pulled out without much greater effort than is required to plant them. Either they had to be dug out of the ground or else uprooted with great force bringing with them large areas of the covering earth. The present invention seeks to provide a solution to this difficulty.

The invention, it is believed, will best be understood and its many advantages most fully appreciated by a study of the following description given in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one illustrative ground anchor constituting one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of the same anchor showing it, together with a short connecting lanyard, in driving position;

Figure 3 is a side view in cross-section of the anchor in holding position, and

Figure 4 is a side view of the anchor turned from its holding position and ready to be withdrawn from the ground.

Referring now in particular to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a ground anchor which consists of an arrowshaped body 11 and a short stud 12 at its rear end by which the anchor can be engaged in the recessed end of a rod, for example, a pipe, and driven into the ground. There is provided in the body of the anchor a forward hole 14 and a rear hole 16 through which a short length lanyard can be fastened to the anchor. These holes are aligned substantially along the major or vertical axis of the anchor as shown rather than crosswise for the reason which will appear.

Anchor 10 may for example be made of iron or, where maximum resistance to corrosion is essential, of stainless steel. p

Figure 2 shows anchor 10 in driving position and engaged by a short length lanyard 18 having two strands 19 and 20. A pipe or similar driving shaft, shown in dotted outline, engages stud 12 and provides a means by which the anchor can be driven below the surface of the earth to a distance, for example, of two feet. Lanyard 18 carries fixed to its strand designated 20 a ball stop 22 which is small enough to pass through rear hole 16 but too large to pass through forward hole 14.

After anchor 10 has been driven to a suflicient depth in the ground, strand 19 is pulled upward just enough to turn anchor 10 to its holding position shown in Figure 3. This position is generally at right angles relative to the direction that anchor 10 was forced into the ground so that the anchor, when pulled by lanyard 18, exerts its maximum holding force. After anchor 10 has been turned to holding position and until it is desired to remove it from the ground, any pull on the anchor by lanyard 18 is preferably exerted in equal amounts by strands 19 and 20.

When it is desired to remove the anchor from the ground, for example to re-locate it, a pull is exerted on strand 19 which causes ball 22 to slip through hole 16 and to come to bear against the shoulder of hole 14. Continuing pull on strand 19 causes anchor 10 to turn from its holding position to the position shown in Figure 4 in which it can more easily be withdrawn from the ground. Instead of presenting maximum resistance to withdrawal, the anchor now, since it is turned point first, will present a minimum resistance. Thus there is provided an anchor which can be used and reused as often as desired and with minimum effort.

While not specifically described herein, it is evident that means other than the ball stop 22 on the lanyard could be used in effecting extraction of the anchor once buried. Such means can, for example, be simply a large knot in one strand of the lanyard, or two separate strands may be independently aflixed fore and aft on the anchor.

I claim:

1. A ground anchor of the character described comprising: a rigid body having an arrow-head shape with a pointed tip and a rear, said body having a first hole through it near its tip and a second hole through it near its rear, said first hole being smaller than said second hole, a lanyard or cable passing through each of said holes to give a double strand attachment thereto, and an enlarged ball-like protuberance carried by said lanyard, the size of said second hole being large enough to pass said protuberance but the size of said first hole being small enough to engage said protuberance, whereby said anchor is easily removed from the ground by pulling on only one strand of said lanyard and slipping it through said holes in said body until said protuberance engages said first hole and said body is withdrawn tip-first.

2. The anchor as in claim 1 wherein the rear of said body carries a short stub which can be removably engaged by a hollow pipe to drive said body straight into the ground.

3. A ground anchor of the character described com prising: a rigid body having an arrow-head shape with a pointed tip and a rear, said body having a first hole through it near its tip and a second hole through it near its rear, said first hole being smaller than said second hole, a lanyard or cable passing through each of said holes to give a double strand attachment thereto,

and enlarged means carried by said lanyard, the size of said second hole being large enough topass said enlarged means but the size of said first hole being small enough to engage it whereby said anchor is easily removedfioin the ground by pulling "on only one Strand of said lanyard and slipping it through said holes in said body until said enlarged means engages said first hole and said body is withdrawn tip-first.

"Rfer'encesCited in the file ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Clevett July 12, 1955 

